Laporte baptises five in fire
France coach Bernard Laporte has named five new caps in his team to face New Zealand on Saturday, for a match that ought to make a mockery of the current world rankings.
Bourgoin lock Julien Pierre, Perpignan back-row Gregory Le Corvec, Perpignan scrum-half Nicolas Durand, Bayonne wing Benjamin Thiery, and Agen centre Arnaud Mignardi will all take their first steps on the international stage against a largely full-strength team constituting the best XV in the world.
There are also five potential new caps on the bench, with forwards Franck Montanella, Olivier Olibeau and Damien Chouly, and backs Michael Forest and Nicolas Laharrague yet to line up for their country.
As well as the new faces, Laporte, short of some 30 international players because of the semi-finals and finals of the Top 14 this weekend and next, has recalled some familiar faces.
Prop Christian Califano has not played for France for four years – he returns to play at Auckland where he played a season with the Blues in the Super 12 – Olivier Magne has been in the international wilderness for over a year, and Thomas Castaignede has missed a year’s worth of internationals with injury.
Outside the forwards, and excepting Castaignede, the backs are impossibly inexperienced, with numbers 9, 10, 12 and 13 counting just three caps between them.
“We did not want to come, but we must come,” said Laporte to reporters.
“We have a lot of new players. For us it will be interesting for the next World Cup,” he said.
France:15 Thomas Castaignede, 14 Julien Laharrague, 13 Arnaud Mignardi, 12 Jean-Philippe Grandclaude, 11 Benjamin Thiery, 10 Benjamin Boyet, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Sebastian Chabal, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Gregory Le Corvec, 5 Pascal Pape (captain), 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Sebastian Bruno, 1 Christian Califano.
Replacements: 16 Raphael Ibanez, 17 Franck Montanella, 18 Olivier Olibeau, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Mickael Forest, 21 Nicolas Laharrague, 22 Ludovic Valbon
Date: Saturday, 2 June
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 19:35 (07.35 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges: Matt Goddard (Australia), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia)
